COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONFollowing on from the India Pale Ale earlier in the year, us brewers have been debating what to do next. The result of these passionate discussions – our version of a Brown Ale! For this one we focused on Australian hops, in particular Tasmanian Hallertau and Cascade, Topaz and Galaxy, which have been added in four additions in the brewing process – early and late kettle, whirlpool and hopback. The result – a beer with a fantastic hop aroma combined with a punchy bitterness. There is plenty of malt in the back to balance out the hops including pale ale, munich, crystal, rye and roast malt. 5.4% alcohol.

Pint bottle. Pours a hazy dark brown, with a fairly small head that vanishes fairly quickly, yet does leave quite good lacing. The aroma is a confused mass of faint grainy notes. There are detectable notes of rye, white and sourdough bread, and a hint of citrus hops, which redeems it a little. The initial taste has some fairly agreeable citrus hops set against a weak white bread backdrop, and is far from excellent. The hops, however, quickly fade, replaced by an odd mixture of grain notes, similar to the aroma. The finish is harsh and abrupt, and the palate a little too watery. The real problem with this beer, as I see it, is that it tries to do far too much. It has not the usual one grain in the mix, but a bewildering array of seven. If it was simplified down a more standard one, or even two grains, it would be a fairly standard brown ale. Its plethora of cereals, however, creates a bizarre cacophony of weak grain notes, which overwhelms the beer. A poor performance from an otherwise excellent brewery.

Pours a perfect deep onion brown colour, with ample off white foam. Gently carbonated, but that’s about all an Ale should be. The nose shows sweet & spicy hops, clean as a whistle. The palate is initially opulent and obscenely malty, before a reasonably bitter kick towards the back. Fantastic style & execution. The best beer I’ve had from this brewery.

Deep cola pour, moderate head. Interesting to pick up the cascade notes in the aroma atop a brown ale nuttiness; some gentle sweetness to the flavor and even roast, but the hops are doing the majority of the work here, making for an enjoyable and distinctive brown ale. Not in the league of their pale ale, but nevertheless very nice for an Australia craft beer.

568mL bottle. Pours dark golden brown with a small off white head that leaves some lacing. Aromas of caramel, grass and citrus. Low sweetness, low bitterness, some hop flavours. Light-medium bodied, soft-medium carbonation and a bit starchy in the finish.

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